Snapshots

Meet my two friends, Ross and Shannon. I won’t see them for four months because in five days I’m up and going off to university! ‘Tis a bittersweet affair. Enjoy some snaps of a few urban suburbans kicking it out on the Septa. There’s nothing like Mexican food, city lights, and public transportation to take you away from cul-de-sac-ville.

Judging from my lack of updates, you have complete right to accuse me of lazy blogger syndrome these past few weeks. For some reason, I blog in a fashion similar to a cyclical weather climate. I shift from a manic storm of posts within two days, wind gusts at 40 mph, to light sprinkles scattered here and there, partly cloudy. Why can’t I adopt the temperate weather of California or some other sunny state that’s consistently 75 degrees and mostly sunny.

Anyway, enough of my rants to be a better blogger. I have here for you today the roundup of my latest adventures through the internet. Start off your weekend with some fresh inspiration and a dollop of good world-wide-web fodder:

MY TOP TEN INTERNET TRAVEL DESTINATIONS FOR TODAY

1. Are you the jet-setting, cultured type (or aspiring to be) and have nothing to do this fine Saturday? Check out the Monocle Weekend Agenda for some ideas, such as Parisian art and re-imagined London architecture.

3. Thinking about joining the running cult? Have a look at what the world would be like if everyone ran via this bit from Refinery29.

4. For the creative artist in you, try this Brain Pickings article called “Tchaikovsky on Work Ethic vs. Inspiration.”

5. And if you aren’t sure if you’re the creative type, read this widely popular piece from HuffPost on “18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently.”

6. Fashionistas will appreciate Vogue’s new My Life in Vogue project, featuring videos of regular people and their stylish lives.

7. Retail junkies or lovers of Creatures of Comfort should check out these two stores: Hare + Hart (sustainable leather fashion that would go great with your globally inspired look) and Maryam Nassir Zadeh (a bright, refreshing boutique featuring an exquisite array of lesser known designers to whip out, if you’re into that kinda thing). While we’re at it, have a look at my earlier post on Merci, an amazing concept store in France.

Speaking from giddy experience, there’s nothing more fantastic than a snow day except another completely unexpected snow day, announced just as your first one draws to a reluctant close. The phrase “due to inclement weather” is a beautiful thing indeed. I’ve been whiling away my sweet time reading a great book (Specialty Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, which, for those who might not know, is not in fact a discourse on colliding particles but a whirring fiction novel that sweeps one off his/her feet) and drinking Keurig’s Single Cup Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa. If you’re familiar with Blue van Meer, I’m starting to think my writing has subconsciously picked up a “Bluish” tint to it. As in, I feel like I’m talking like the character whose murder-mysterious, electrifying world I’ve currently fallen into..

To book lovers the world over, pick up this read for your next escapade. It’s crackling with intelligence (there are more esoteric literary, political, and academic references in this novel than snow flakes on my front lawn), brimming with one-of-a-kind analogies (“If Servo were in a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, he’d be the Painfully Tragic character, the one who wore bronze suits and alligator shoes”), full of marvelous observations (“The fluorescent lights made a soured halo around his hair so he looked like a hand-painted Jesus one finds hanging on clammy walls of churches that smell of Gruyère.” And also, “Shutting down disturbances…was the only reason Ms. Hambone ever emerged from her office, where she allegedly spent her day shopping http://www.QVC.com for Easter Limited-Quantity Collectibles and Goddess Glamour Jewelry.”), and populated by extremely three-dimensional, larger than life characters that threaten to step off the page and invite you to a cup of coffee, or, depending on who you’re dealing with here, invite you to go camping only to leave you stranded in the forest.

There I go again, talking like the narrator of whatever book I’m reading at the time. It’s a pesky habit I have.

Behold the stowaways from my latest escapades to zesty, guacamole-infused Mexico. The skull, his name is Julio-José Fernando Santos The First, is my pride and joy. I begged my madré to do away with a well-spent 6,500 pesos (not dollars) for this guy, which actually isn’t too bad for such a jewel-encrusted treasure as Julio-José. And really, what better way to kick of 2014 than with my very own (pseudo-)crystal skull, the stuff of old Mayan legends and Indiana Jones blockbusters!

I hope all of you celebrated a wonderful New Year’s Eve 🙂 Asides from the absence of Papa Richard, who flew home to the Philippines to visit my grandfather, mine was an especially memorable one. In place of string-in-a-can fights and plastic ponchos, this year’s countdown salsa’d beachfront to the peppery beat of Latino melodies. And there’s nothing more festive than Latino music (I’ve been going through a phase long before our trip), authentic tortillas, and beaded sombreros.

Below, enjoy a mishmash of pics from my trip in various, rosy-tinged filters

As for New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve typed up and printed mine out in the meager hopes that I’ll actually abide to them this time. I also drafted up a completely separate NYR list just for the blog. My top three? 1) a personal outfit post each Saturday, even though I abhor the inherently awkward and self-absorbed nature of these. 2) blog consistently, following a structured timeline. 3) quality over quantity.

P.S. I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve been going through a Latino music phase. To hear the Pandora-playlist evidence, just click here. I’ve been furiously thumbing-up my favorites, a lot of which are by Marc Anthony btw, and have now achieved a sultry mix to ease the unbearably endless haul between now and June. Post-Christmas winter is always so depressing 😦

P.P.S. If you like that kinda music, why not try some Spanish? Click here or here.

Contrary to typical teenage instincts, I believe my parents have pretty good taste. In fact, I even find that we have similar tastes, and that goes for clothes, music,and movies. This means that either I have the style sense of a fifty year-old, or my parents are actually somewhat hip. Anyway, I’ve got to hand it to them for the Christmas decorations this year. They quite outdid themselves, puttering around like magical Christmas elves and adding twinkling lights and wreaths everywhere. I can’t even remember registering when any of their decorating happened. I feel like I just woke up one day and voilà, the place was all lush with red poinsettias, holly branches, and pseudo-vintage tin cherubs. Or maybe, the reason I haven’t noticed anything until now is due to the fact that I’ve locked myself in my room to write college supplementals..#bestchristmasever. But hey, at least our house is pretty and filled with random boxes of Christmas cookies (extra pounds) lying everywhere 🙂

As I write this, I’m sitting happily in my cozy house reveling in the bliss of the first snow day of the year. I woke up this morning, drowsily peeked open one eye, and almost cried when I registered the unbelievable winter wonderland scene outside my window, the bedside alarm clock that read 9 A.M., and the realization that I’d evaded the educational system for one heavenly day. So, in order to appreciate the joy of a snow day to its utmost authenticity, I swear that after this update I won’t go on the internet again. Instead, I’m looking forward to the old-fashioned drill of watching movies, reading books, playing boardgames, and sipping hot cocoa.

I was reminiscing through old photo albums today and flashbacked to my 5 year-old self splashing through the clear waters and white sands of Borocay, a small island in my homeland, the Philippines. Wish I was there right now, but hopefully I’ll get to visit home sometime this year!

This is just me basking in what is the epitome of suburban supremacy…a plastic pool, a backyard, and a dog.

Compared to me at twelve, when I was, as I like to say, an energetic little ball of sunshine, I’m now not as inclined to jump into a stagnant, cold body of water unless it’s scorching hot, the ocean, a pool party, or with friends. I just never know how to entertain myself in a pool anymore. What do you do in them now besides aimlessly float around? Anyway, at least the jacuzzi is quite nice, and the re-landscaping of our backyard has been a great success. What that means is that now I’ve got the perfect summer hangout spot for magazine reading, late-night hot tub dips, and al fresco dining 🙂